Although public liability insurance provides a huge amount of protection for businesses, the basic concept behind the cover is really quite simple. In a nutshell, the policy will cover you if you cause property damage or personal injury to a member of the public.
All public liability policies have this same feature, indeed it is what makes a public liability policy what it is! But like other types of insurance, there is a growing number of added features and benefits offered by various insurance companies to make their policies more attractive.
In today’s article we will look at some of the optional benefits and how they can help to protect your business.
Tax Audit Insurance
A number of public liability policies now have optional cover for a tax audit. For some insurers this is an extra-cost option, whilst a select few are now offering this as a standard benefit at no extra cost.
The tax audit option means that your business will be covered up to a certain amount to cover the costs of a tax audit performed by the ATO.
The costs involved in a tax audit can be huge, mainly because of the amount of time it will take your accountant to comply with the audit. And of course, your accountant isn’t going to do this work for free!
Each insurance company has a different amount that they will cover. For example one popular policy will cover the full costs incurred provided that they fall within twelve months of the original audit date.
Some public liability insurance policies also include tax audit cover for a business director’s personal tax affairs. The insurance will only cover the accounting and professional costs of an audit, and will not cover any penalties or loss of income etc.
Customer Vehicles
Being covered whilst driving customer vehicles is very important to people working in the motor trades industry, but most public liability policies do not provide automatic cover for damage caused to a customer’s car during testing or deliver.
Optional cover for driving customer cars is treated differently by the various insurers. Some policies will cover the full cost of the car, whilst another policy only covers up to $100,000. If your business deals in high-end cars you will definitely need to look at the amount you are covered for.
Consumer Protection Insurance
Consumer protection cover is a special option that can be included in some policies. For certain businesses, such as electricians in Queensland, it is mandatory to have a public liability policy which includes a certain level of consumer protection insurance.
Other Features and Benefits
Each insurer has their own special features, benefits and options extras available on their public liability insurance policies. Some of these options are included for free to make the policies more attractive, and some you will have to pay for.
Some of the extra benefits are just nice to have, but some will be absolutely vital depending on the type of business you run, and even depending on the state you operate within in the case of Queensland electricians.
Public liability insurance is mighty important to all businesses in Australia, and with the right options you could get even more benefit out of your policy without increasing your public liability insurance cost by too much, or potentially without having to pay any extra if you choose the right policy.
The best way to find out which options are available to your business is to speak with an insurance broker who knows your industry and knows which features and benefits will be of most use to you and your business.
For more information on your public liability insurance or to obtain a quote, please get in contact with us or request an obligation free online quote.